NCES CCD 2024-25 7 schools IL

Best-Resourced Schools in Carbondale, IL

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

7 public K-12 schools in Carbondale from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

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Schools

3,509

Students

37.4/100

Avg Resource Index

13.6:1

Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Middle-of-corpus city profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Carbondale has more public-school enrollment than 36% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Carbondale sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

3 of Carbondale's 7 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

The composite and staffing measures point in different directions

Carbondale's average Resource Investment Index sits at the 34th percentile, while its teacher-staffing measure sits at the 72nd percentile. The 38-point percentile gap is a reminder that the index is not a class-size score: counselors, gifted-program reporting, and attendance also affect it. Compare those components directly when two schools have similar index totals; the same headline score can arise from a different mix of reported resources.

City enrollment: Top 64%
School count: Top 65%
Resource Index average: 34th percentile
Teacher staffing: 72nd percentile

Carbondale Comm H S accounts for 29.2% of all Carbondale public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Carbondale-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Carbondale school enrollment varies 4.7× across entities

Carbondale school enrollment ranges from 218 students (lowest) to 1,023 students (highest), a spread of 805 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Carbondale student-teacher ratio is 13.6:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe Accessed 2026-08-26

#	School	Score	Enrollment	Level	District
1.	Unity Point Elem School	48	620	Combined	Unity Point Ccsd 140
2.	Giant City Elem School	45	218	Combined	Giant City Ccsd 130
3.	Lewis School	39	325	elementary	Carbondale Esd 95
4.	Thomas Elementary School	37	400	elementary	Carbondale Esd 95
5.	Carbondale Comm H S	35	1,023	high	Carbondale Chsd 165
6.	Carbondale Middle School	32	457	middle	Carbondale Esd 95
7.	Parrish Elem School	26	466	Combined	Carbondale Esd 95

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Carbondale

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

What do families ask about schools in Carbondale?

Which Carbondale school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Unity Point Elem School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Carbondale schools in this federal-data comparison at 48/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Carbondale, IL? ▼

Carbondale has 7 public schools with a total enrollment of 3,509 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 13.6:1.

Other Cities in Illinois

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Illinois →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.